Recount in Waterford RTM race finalizes membership

Waterford — The new makeup of Waterford's 22-member Representative Town Meeting was made final Monday after a recount in Town Hall confirmed that Republican Francisco Ribas, an incumbent in District 4 of the town's four districts, won a seat on the RTM with one more vote than Democrat Julia Kushigian-Secor.

Ribas, an incumbent on the town's main legislative body, won with 528 votes on Election Day, while Kushigian-Secor had 527. The top six vote-getters — Republicans Ribas, Thomas Dembek, Michael Rocchetti and Ivy Plis, Democrat Susan Driscoll and Green Party member Carl D'Amato — will make up the District 4 members.

Candidates in two other races close enough to merit a recount waived their right to one, according to Waterford Town Clerk David Campo.

The recount confirmed all the vote tallies for the District 4 race with no changes, Campo said. It also finalized the final party breakdown on the RTM, which serves as the town's legislative body, takes the final vote on the annual town budget, as well as capital expenditures and union contracts, and appoints people to various non-elected commissions.

For the first time, a third party will be represented on the RTM: four members of the Green Party will join six Democrats and a 12-member Republican majority.

An attorney with the Secretary of the State's Office determined last week that because Connecticut law lets elected officials serve as a member of the party they were nominated by, not the party that garnered them the most votes, the Green Party members cross-endorsed by the Waterford Democratic Town Committee will serve as members of the Green Party.